LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The Cornell men's tennis team opened its spring dual-meet season in emphatic fashion on Friday afternoon, sweeping host Louisville 4-0 at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center. The Big Red improved to 1-0 on the year, while Louisville dropped its first match of the season and slipped to 2-1.

Cornell set the tone early by claiming the doubles point, winning the two completed matches. The tandem of Eric Verdes and Rodrigo Fernandes earned a 6-4 victory at the top spot, while Rethin Pranav Senthil Kumar and Rushil Khosla followed with a 6-3 triumph at No. 2 to go up 1-0.

In singles play, Fernandes quickly doubled the Cornell lead, rolling past Walid Ahouda 6-1, 6-4 at the top of the lineup. Verdes kept the momentum going at No. 2, dispatching Hamza El Amine 6-2, 6-2 to put the Big Red within a point of the clinch, which Felipe Pinzon took care of with a 7-6, 6-4 triumph at No. 4 to close out the match. Cornell led in two of the three remaining matches that had entered a third set.

Cornell will look for a weekend sweep in the midwest when it visits Purdue on Sunday, Jan. 18 at 11 a.m. at the Schwartz Tennis Center.

Cornell 4, Louisville 0
Doubles
1. Eric Verdes/Rodrigo Fernandes (Cornell) def. #21 Matai Onofrei/Andre Steinbach (Louisville) 6-4
2. #90 Rethin Pranav Senthil Kumar/Rushil Khosla (Cornell) def. #59 Walid Ahouda/Hamza El Amine (Louisville) 6-3
3. Noah Eisenberg/Aman Sharma (Cornell) vs. Russell Lokko/Pedro Cressoni (Louisville) 5-4 UF
Order of finish: 1, 2

Singles
1. #120 Rodrigo Fernandes (Cornell) def. #68 Walid Ahouda (Louisville) 6-1, 6-4
2. Eric Verdes , Eric (Cornell) vs. #122 Hamza El Amine (Louisville) 6-2, 6-2
3. Petar Teodorovic (Cornell) vs. Andre Steinbach (Louisville) 3-6, 6-1, 3-4 UF
4. #113 Felipe Pinzon (Cornell) def. Matei Onofrei (Louisville) 7-6, 6-4
5. Rethin Pranav Senthil Kumar (Cornell) vs. Pedro Cressoni (Louisville) 2-6, 6-3, 2-1 UF
6. Aman Sharma (Cornell) vs. Louis Chusseau (Louisville) 6-4, 2-6, 3-1 UF
Order of finish: 1, 2, 4